Ireland lose Mooney for World Twenty20

John Mooney, the man who hit the winning runs for Ireland against England in the 2011 World Cup, has been ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20 due to a serious finger fracture. He suffered the injury when fielding in Irish club cricket, having returned to the game as a bowler while still resting a dislocated thumb sustained last month.

"I'm devastated to be missing out on the rest of the season and the Twenty20 World Cup", Mooney told ESPNcricinfo. "I was playing as a bowler for my club North County at the weekend as I was resting my thumb from batting since I dislocated it against Afghanistan.

"I took a sharp chance low to the ground at first slip off Eddie Richardson and looked down to see the top part of my middle finger was floppy. I knew it wasn't good."

A visit to a finger specialist on Tuesday gave Mooney, who has won 134 Ireland caps, the news he was dreading. "He confirmed I have fractured it and ripped the tendon from the bone," Mooney said. "I'm in a splint now for 12 weeks where hopefully the tendon will reconnect with the bone. It's particularly hard to take as I had to fly home from the qualifiers early due to my hamstring injury.

Cricket Ireland performance director Richard Holdsworth said the initial hope had been that an uncomplicated break might have had Mooney back playing by September. "We had hoped that it was just a break, and he might have been able to be back playing in 3-4 weeks", Holdsworth said.

"But he has damaged the ligaments and so we've reluctantly had to rule him out. It's a great shame and a setback to him, especially as he was injured in the qualifiers in Dubai. He's such a big part of the team and we really want him to be there."

Mooney has been a key member of Phil Simmons' Ireland side since the 2007 World Cup, where he made just one appearance. The combative Dubliner famously struck the final blow as Ireland beat
England at Bangalore in last year's World Cup.

But an injury sustained while diving for catch in the T20 qualifiers in Dubai in March ruled him out of early season with his club. He recovered and played a short trial with Sussex in June, before he returned early after deciding a county career was not for him.

The Irish squad will be released at 9am local time on Friday, with England-bound Boyd Rankin certain to be included.

@Colm Mooney...The money figures you have mentioned has caught my interest and in fact true but there's a good reason why full members are given such huge amounts and associates peanuts and that's because the full members have to use that money to pay of full series against their opposition so you can understand why they're given such amount whereas Ireland at this moment do not get such opportunity. However, I do agree that associates too need as much funding from the ICC as the full members are getting especially from the top associates like Ireland who are on their way to breaking into the elite I mean the money like you have mentioned the associates are getting is ridiculous besides wasn't it Ireland that received extra funding from ICC recently? because that's a great sign already. Anyway Ireland may be getting what they're hoping for soon and this is upto 15 ODIs a year against full members but yeah, Ireland Board just needs to do more quickly otherwise they'll turn like Kenya.

Dummy4
on August 18, 2012, 13:36 GMT

I understand all of your areas you mention. I don't doubt BD are a side that is getting better which I find great. As we need more competition in cricket.

However Ireland plans to build it's own FC domestic system by as early as next year. Cricket Ireland is certainly doing a lot to help progress cricket.

Government isn't helping any sports right now. The country is in an economical mess right now and there funding isn't there to anyone. Not just cricket it's all sports.

However if the ICC can send 9+ million to the full members who are fundamentally developed cricket wise. Why do they think 325,000 to associate sides would be sufficient in helping a country who needs to develop. It doesn't make sense the amounts that the two groups are given.

With all due respect if you noticed the other Irish articles, Ireland is telling the ICC we don't want to play associates anymore. We want to play top level opposition, it's not for lack of trying that we don't get fixtures. We want to play

Dummy4
on August 18, 2012, 0:49 GMT

@Colm Mooney...Mate you are aware that Bangladesh has one of the best UNDER-19 records and if you compare that against Ireland UNDER-19 its at complete ends. Infact Bangladesh UNDER-19 has a 5-0 win ratio over Ireland UNDER-19 so that shows where both these teams are at infact, Bangladesh UNDER-19 has a marvellous 17-7 win ratio over England UNDER-19 so that's proof enough our Cricket is going in the right direction .Yes I agree Ireland need to be part of the elite and need to play Test Cricket but the Irish Cricket is simply not doing enough off the field i.e. First Class structure, Government support etc.

Dummy4
on August 18, 2012, 0:20 GMT

@tatactg...very good points! Though I'm a Bangladeshi fan I reside in the UK and I have seen a lot of Irish players i.e.Porterfield, Stirling, O'Brian etc play for the top County teams which everyone knows is a country that happens to have the best domestic structure in the World. As much as I love the development of Irish Cricket, Irish Cricket are not doing enough to achieve full membership status for example setting up a first class structure which by the way is a major requirement from the ICC in order to play Test Cricket and also Government support. Once Ireland meet those things then the standards of Irish Cricket as a whole will improve.

reazul
on August 17, 2012, 19:20 GMT

@ Colm Moony The money BD receives goes for the tours(which is very few these days by the way).And most of the time(80%) BD plays against stronger teams and loses - hardly the most productive way of growing your team & having positive experience(the team is young too).Whereas Ireland mostly plays with teams just their standards or just below their standards (with some big matches in a year against stronger teams) but the crucial difference is 8/9 of their players play for different counties throughout the year having better coaches , better pay and better allround experiences than BD players.Just look the stat of Ire players first class/T20 experience against BD players - hands down Ireland squad is more experienced than BD.Irish players are also in their peak performance age compared to BD.BD played only 6 official t20 matches in last 3 years before the Irish tour!!! - where do you get awful lot more games & more experience?But the record is 4-1 in ire soil & 4-0 in BD for BD.

Dummy4
on August 17, 2012, 15:13 GMT

@tatactg is back the famous guy who comes out of the woodwork when Ireland don't do well. The 3-0 scoreline doesn't reflect on the games. Considering Bangladesh receive 18 times the funding Ireland receive who have been play an awful lot more games and more experience.

They should have routed us every game. However to win by 1 run and the last game, win by 2 wickets from the last ball of the game. Doesn't exactly scream out one sided to me...

Dummy4
on August 17, 2012, 15:12 GMT

hmmm....Interesting comments from some of our fans but to be honest, T20 is T20 you know it has a lot to do with "Luck & Risks" and anyone even the weakest of teams can defeat the best of teams and the 2009 World T20 Championship match between England and Netherlands is proof when the Dutch surprisingly won in England so anything can happen. On paper the West Indies look really strong in that format considering they have all that strength and power plus speed.

reazul
on August 17, 2012, 11:38 GMT

@one rupee and shuddho,
don't compare between chalk and cheese - WI is very much a firm favorite to win the cup and Ireland cannot even beat Bangladesh in their own conditions, they will struggle big time to be even competitive in their matches.

Dummy4
on August 17, 2012, 9:03 GMT

I agree one rupee, ire r stronger than most people realize nd i was unimpressed by windies in england, a series win gainst a 2nd string nz side( dey were widout ross taylor, mcullum) doesn't mean dey can win wt20

Srikanth
on August 17, 2012, 3:38 GMT

ok, i dont know why the previous poster just called west indies a minnow, but I on the contrary think they are strong favorites. You are talking of a team that's made up of gayle, bravo, narine, pollard, samuels, russel, sammy, roach. Especially Narine, who will be unplayable on sri lankan pitches.

Dummy4
on August 18, 2012, 18:32 GMT

@Colm Mooney...The money figures you have mentioned has caught my interest and in fact true but there's a good reason why full members are given such huge amounts and associates peanuts and that's because the full members have to use that money to pay of full series against their opposition so you can understand why they're given such amount whereas Ireland at this moment do not get such opportunity. However, I do agree that associates too need as much funding from the ICC as the full members are getting especially from the top associates like Ireland who are on their way to breaking into the elite I mean the money like you have mentioned the associates are getting is ridiculous besides wasn't it Ireland that received extra funding from ICC recently? because that's a great sign already. Anyway Ireland may be getting what they're hoping for soon and this is upto 15 ODIs a year against full members but yeah, Ireland Board just needs to do more quickly otherwise they'll turn like Kenya.

Dummy4
on August 18, 2012, 13:36 GMT

I understand all of your areas you mention. I don't doubt BD are a side that is getting better which I find great. As we need more competition in cricket.

However Ireland plans to build it's own FC domestic system by as early as next year. Cricket Ireland is certainly doing a lot to help progress cricket.

Government isn't helping any sports right now. The country is in an economical mess right now and there funding isn't there to anyone. Not just cricket it's all sports.

However if the ICC can send 9+ million to the full members who are fundamentally developed cricket wise. Why do they think 325,000 to associate sides would be sufficient in helping a country who needs to develop. It doesn't make sense the amounts that the two groups are given.

With all due respect if you noticed the other Irish articles, Ireland is telling the ICC we don't want to play associates anymore. We want to play top level opposition, it's not for lack of trying that we don't get fixtures. We want to play

Dummy4
on August 18, 2012, 0:49 GMT

@Colm Mooney...Mate you are aware that Bangladesh has one of the best UNDER-19 records and if you compare that against Ireland UNDER-19 its at complete ends. Infact Bangladesh UNDER-19 has a 5-0 win ratio over Ireland UNDER-19 so that shows where both these teams are at infact, Bangladesh UNDER-19 has a marvellous 17-7 win ratio over England UNDER-19 so that's proof enough our Cricket is going in the right direction .Yes I agree Ireland need to be part of the elite and need to play Test Cricket but the Irish Cricket is simply not doing enough off the field i.e. First Class structure, Government support etc.

Dummy4
on August 18, 2012, 0:20 GMT

@tatactg...very good points! Though I'm a Bangladeshi fan I reside in the UK and I have seen a lot of Irish players i.e.Porterfield, Stirling, O'Brian etc play for the top County teams which everyone knows is a country that happens to have the best domestic structure in the World. As much as I love the development of Irish Cricket, Irish Cricket are not doing enough to achieve full membership status for example setting up a first class structure which by the way is a major requirement from the ICC in order to play Test Cricket and also Government support. Once Ireland meet those things then the standards of Irish Cricket as a whole will improve.

reazul
on August 17, 2012, 19:20 GMT

@ Colm Moony The money BD receives goes for the tours(which is very few these days by the way).And most of the time(80%) BD plays against stronger teams and loses - hardly the most productive way of growing your team & having positive experience(the team is young too).Whereas Ireland mostly plays with teams just their standards or just below their standards (with some big matches in a year against stronger teams) but the crucial difference is 8/9 of their players play for different counties throughout the year having better coaches , better pay and better allround experiences than BD players.Just look the stat of Ire players first class/T20 experience against BD players - hands down Ireland squad is more experienced than BD.Irish players are also in their peak performance age compared to BD.BD played only 6 official t20 matches in last 3 years before the Irish tour!!! - where do you get awful lot more games & more experience?But the record is 4-1 in ire soil & 4-0 in BD for BD.

Dummy4
on August 17, 2012, 15:13 GMT

@tatactg is back the famous guy who comes out of the woodwork when Ireland don't do well. The 3-0 scoreline doesn't reflect on the games. Considering Bangladesh receive 18 times the funding Ireland receive who have been play an awful lot more games and more experience.

They should have routed us every game. However to win by 1 run and the last game, win by 2 wickets from the last ball of the game. Doesn't exactly scream out one sided to me...

Dummy4
on August 17, 2012, 15:12 GMT

hmmm....Interesting comments from some of our fans but to be honest, T20 is T20 you know it has a lot to do with "Luck & Risks" and anyone even the weakest of teams can defeat the best of teams and the 2009 World T20 Championship match between England and Netherlands is proof when the Dutch surprisingly won in England so anything can happen. On paper the West Indies look really strong in that format considering they have all that strength and power plus speed.

reazul
on August 17, 2012, 11:38 GMT

@one rupee and shuddho,
don't compare between chalk and cheese - WI is very much a firm favorite to win the cup and Ireland cannot even beat Bangladesh in their own conditions, they will struggle big time to be even competitive in their matches.

Dummy4
on August 17, 2012, 9:03 GMT

I agree one rupee, ire r stronger than most people realize nd i was unimpressed by windies in england, a series win gainst a 2nd string nz side( dey were widout ross taylor, mcullum) doesn't mean dey can win wt20

Srikanth
on August 17, 2012, 3:38 GMT

ok, i dont know why the previous poster just called west indies a minnow, but I on the contrary think they are strong favorites. You are talking of a team that's made up of gayle, bravo, narine, pollard, samuels, russel, sammy, roach. Especially Narine, who will be unplayable on sri lankan pitches.

Srikanth
on August 17, 2012, 3:28 GMT

Mooney? I thought wormtail was the one with an injured finger(read missing finger)

India
on August 17, 2012, 0:54 GMT

IRELAND HAS A VERY GUD CHANCE OF BEATING THE MINNOW WESTINDIES AND GETTING THROUGH TO THE SUPER 8 STAGES ALONG SIDE AUSTRALIA...........

No featured comments at the moment.

India
on August 17, 2012, 0:54 GMT

IRELAND HAS A VERY GUD CHANCE OF BEATING THE MINNOW WESTINDIES AND GETTING THROUGH TO THE SUPER 8 STAGES ALONG SIDE AUSTRALIA...........

Srikanth
on August 17, 2012, 3:28 GMT

Mooney? I thought wormtail was the one with an injured finger(read missing finger)

Srikanth
on August 17, 2012, 3:38 GMT

ok, i dont know why the previous poster just called west indies a minnow, but I on the contrary think they are strong favorites. You are talking of a team that's made up of gayle, bravo, narine, pollard, samuels, russel, sammy, roach. Especially Narine, who will be unplayable on sri lankan pitches.

Dummy4
on August 17, 2012, 9:03 GMT

I agree one rupee, ire r stronger than most people realize nd i was unimpressed by windies in england, a series win gainst a 2nd string nz side( dey were widout ross taylor, mcullum) doesn't mean dey can win wt20

reazul
on August 17, 2012, 11:38 GMT

@one rupee and shuddho,
don't compare between chalk and cheese - WI is very much a firm favorite to win the cup and Ireland cannot even beat Bangladesh in their own conditions, they will struggle big time to be even competitive in their matches.

Dummy4
on August 17, 2012, 15:12 GMT

hmmm....Interesting comments from some of our fans but to be honest, T20 is T20 you know it has a lot to do with "Luck & Risks" and anyone even the weakest of teams can defeat the best of teams and the 2009 World T20 Championship match between England and Netherlands is proof when the Dutch surprisingly won in England so anything can happen. On paper the West Indies look really strong in that format considering they have all that strength and power plus speed.

Dummy4
on August 17, 2012, 15:13 GMT

@tatactg is back the famous guy who comes out of the woodwork when Ireland don't do well. The 3-0 scoreline doesn't reflect on the games. Considering Bangladesh receive 18 times the funding Ireland receive who have been play an awful lot more games and more experience.

They should have routed us every game. However to win by 1 run and the last game, win by 2 wickets from the last ball of the game. Doesn't exactly scream out one sided to me...

reazul
on August 17, 2012, 19:20 GMT

@ Colm Moony The money BD receives goes for the tours(which is very few these days by the way).And most of the time(80%) BD plays against stronger teams and loses - hardly the most productive way of growing your team & having positive experience(the team is young too).Whereas Ireland mostly plays with teams just their standards or just below their standards (with some big matches in a year against stronger teams) but the crucial difference is 8/9 of their players play for different counties throughout the year having better coaches , better pay and better allround experiences than BD players.Just look the stat of Ire players first class/T20 experience against BD players - hands down Ireland squad is more experienced than BD.Irish players are also in their peak performance age compared to BD.BD played only 6 official t20 matches in last 3 years before the Irish tour!!! - where do you get awful lot more games & more experience?But the record is 4-1 in ire soil & 4-0 in BD for BD.

Dummy4
on August 18, 2012, 0:20 GMT

@tatactg...very good points! Though I'm a Bangladeshi fan I reside in the UK and I have seen a lot of Irish players i.e.Porterfield, Stirling, O'Brian etc play for the top County teams which everyone knows is a country that happens to have the best domestic structure in the World. As much as I love the development of Irish Cricket, Irish Cricket are not doing enough to achieve full membership status for example setting up a first class structure which by the way is a major requirement from the ICC in order to play Test Cricket and also Government support. Once Ireland meet those things then the standards of Irish Cricket as a whole will improve.

Dummy4
on August 18, 2012, 0:49 GMT

@Colm Mooney...Mate you are aware that Bangladesh has one of the best UNDER-19 records and if you compare that against Ireland UNDER-19 its at complete ends. Infact Bangladesh UNDER-19 has a 5-0 win ratio over Ireland UNDER-19 so that shows where both these teams are at infact, Bangladesh UNDER-19 has a marvellous 17-7 win ratio over England UNDER-19 so that's proof enough our Cricket is going in the right direction .Yes I agree Ireland need to be part of the elite and need to play Test Cricket but the Irish Cricket is simply not doing enough off the field i.e. First Class structure, Government support etc.

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